The present invention is directed to a word game wherein words are created from letters derived from chance elements. More particularly, the present invention is a competitive points based English alphabet word construction game apparatus and method for players who create words from letters determined from a group of chance elements, wherein long words created from infrequently used letters are rewarded with enhanced points levels.
It is well recognized in the prior art the benefit of playing word games as an enjoyable method by which an individual can build their vocabulary and spelling skills. Most word games have an element of chance and an element of competitive strategy that allows the player to win the game while utilizing a minimal amount of apparatus required to play the game. There are numerous approaches to playing word games, although most of the games utilize a series of chance elements, typically being dice that contain six sides, in that each of the sides normally has an indicia in the form of a letter. The dice are then rolled by the player with the top side of the dice counting as letters that the player can utilize in an attempt to create a word, wherein there are numerous rules for converting the created word into a points system that eventually will lead to a game winner. In addition, sometimes specialty cards are used in conjunction with the dice to enhance the word creation ability of the player.
Prior examples include U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,328 to Krantz that discloses a word game using twelve six sided dice, wherein a plurality of dice are rolled by the player who tries to make a word from the uppermost side of each die""s letter. However, not all letters are on the dice and the highest frequency letters are used more than once on the dice, with the limitation that no one die has the same letter twice. Also, a die side can have more than one letter present to aid in making words, using one of the two letters on the side. Joker or blank dice sides are used for any letter to be used or selected by the player. The player must make a word from a singular role of dice, with points awarded based upon the size of the word, in other words more letters equate to more points. Another prior art example would be U.S. Pat. No. 1,412,204 to Derby that discloses a word game that uses six sets of differently colored cubes with each cube having six sides with each side having one letter so that each cube spells a six letter word and a set of six cubes also spells the same word, but without using the same letter twice. In other words, each cube of a set is identical. The cube sets spell different words. To play, a player uses one set of cubes and rolls them and scores points based on the portion of the length of the word spelled correctly. The player must make a word from a singular dice roll, with points awarded based upon the partial correct spelling of the word, with more letters equaling more points awarded. If a first letter of the word appears three times in any throw, that player loses their entire score to that point, if six of the same letters are thrown, the player""s score is doubled. As yet another prior art example is Canadian Patent No. 552,193 to Barber that discloses a word game using a set of five dice, wherein one side of each die has one different vowel with the dice set having twenty one of the consonants and four joker sides total, such that one cube has no joker. Alternatively, the dice can be arranged to have all the five vowels on one cube with one joker side and to use the twenty one consonants on the remaining four cubes with three jokers, such that one cube has no joker. To play, the player""s roll of the set of five dice tries to make a word from the uppermost sides of the dice. Barber has no specifics for scoring rules, only that a form could be used to complete a crossword puzzle type of form and suggests that the players make up their own rules for scoring.
Other prior art word games would include U.S. Pat. No. 4,966,366 to Mercado-Torres that discloses a word game that uses a set of ten cubes that are each marked with different letters on the six sides of each cube and a set of word cards that do not have a word longer than ten letters and with the words on the word cards being able to be made from the various cube combinations. The most frequently used letters appear twice on the cubes and the letters having a lesser frequency of use appear only once on the cubes. The game is played by picking a card and then arranging the cubes to spell the word in the least amount of time. A simpler prior game is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,700 to Turek that discloses a word game that uses twenty four identical six sided dice, with each side of the die marked with the unique letter of the six letter target word so that the die contains all the letters of the target word. The game is played by each player being given six dice, and the player then rolls one die in an attempt to have the first letter H of the target word shown in this example as the word HEARTS that would land face up on the die, and then the player attempts to roll the second letter E with the first player who spells the entire target word being the winner. When the player rolls the desired letter, that particular die joins that player""s completion set, and at that player""s next turn they roll one of their remaining dies. When a player successfully rolls the desired letter of the target word that player continues to get additional turns until they roll an undesirable letter. A final prior art example would be Canadian patent No. 553,458 to Holloway that discloses a word game that includes fifteen dice with thirteen of the dice having letters, with one die being blanked, and with one die being a conventional die with dots one through six on its six sides. The blank die is a wild die that can be used for any desired letter and the conventional dotted die is used to multiply that player""s score. The distribution of the letters on the thirteen dice are arranged in their frequency of occurrence of use. The game is played by throwing the dice and a player than arranging the dice to form words in order to maximize their score. As is typical, longer words equate to higher scores with score additions from the wild die available. Challenges are also allowed with points gained or lost for successful or unsuccessful challenges respectively by rearranging the other player""s dice for higher points words.
What has not been disclosed is a word construction game that allows a higher proportion of player strategy as opposed to the prior art concentrating mostly on player chance by typically initiating a chance element or more specifically rolling a set of dice to determine the letters available for spelling a word. Most of the prior games disclosed limit the size and type of word that can be created and do not allow it to be xe2x80x9cbuiltxe2x80x9d out of multiple turns that the player can take, thus allowing the player to either use letters gained from a chance element or to store those letters in a bank for later use, wherein the player would receive enhanced awards for both the creation of a longer word and a word that uses less frequently used consonant letters. For a word game to truly stimulate creative thinking there should be absolutely no limit on the length of the words created. Also, there should be a strategic component in the players selecting which single one of the chance elements to initiate or roll on their turn, this allows the player some discretion in using their banked letters in conjunction with the letters that the player desired. What is needed is a word construction game that has a higher proportion of player strategy in relation to player chance in the ability to win the game while the same time keeping the game apparatus very simple.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and useful competitive points based English alphabet word construction game apparatus and method hereby termed the Alpha Cubes Game, that combines the elements of chance and knowledge into winning the game, wherein there are no player age limits, there are no limits on the number of players, and there are no limits as to what type of words may be created as long as the words are verifiable in a dictionary.
It is another object of the present invention to provide for enhanced points levels awards for the players, when the players create words and that are long in letter length and that utilize infrequently used letters in English language.
It is a further object of the present invention to allow players to bank letters that are indicated from the initiation of the chance elements to add an element of strategy for the player to engage in for the type of word that is created by the player.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide for a points liability for the player based upon the size of the letter bank and the type of letters in the letter bank that the player holds at each turn.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide for points liability for the player who creates words that are not dictionary verifiable and a corresponding bonus to the player who successfully challenges another player""s word creation validity.
It is further yet another object of the present invention to provide for a chance element having a non letter indication that once initiated by the player allows the player to select any one of the indicia available on that particular chance element to use in the creation of a word.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide for a player""s net score to be calculated at the player""s turn determined from points gained from properly created words minus points liabilities based upon the player""s letter bank and improperly created words, with that players score compared to a selected predetermined score to ascertain whether that player has a sufficient amount of net points to win that particular game.
The present invention is a competitive points based English alphabet word construction game apparatus and method for players who create words from letters determined from a single chance element initiation per turn that is selected from a group of chance elements, wherein long words created from infrequently used letters are rewarded with enhanced points levels. Broadly the present invention includes, five chance elements comprising, a first, a second, a third, a fourth, and a fifth chance element, each of the chance elements includes six areas having a distinct perceptible indication for a total of thirty areas. More specifically, the first chance element includes six indicia bearing areas, each of the first chance element indicia bearing areas representing one of the five English alphabet vowels, being A, E, I, O, U, and including the sometimes vowel Y for the six indicia on the first chance element. Also included are, the second, third, fourth, and fifth chance elements that each also include the six indicia bearing areas, resulting in a total of twenty-four areas, for the second, third, fourth, and fifth chance elements. These twenty-four areas each include an indicia representing one of the twenty consonant letters of the English alphabet and four non-indicia areas.
These and other objects of the present invention will become more readily appreciated and understood from a consideration of the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention when taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which;